General secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), Irvin Jim, signed a new wage agreement for the metals and engineering sector in Johannesburg today (Wednesday).
The union, which represents about 140 000 workers in the metals and engineering sector, had previously demanded a 15% wage increase across the board based on the actual rate workers were earning, not on the new minimum rate.
But employers were proposing a three-year wage agreement offering of a 5.3% wage hike across the board for the first year of the agreement based on the minimum rate, and not the actual rate that workers were earning.
This resulted in Numsa’s proposal of a nationwide strike, which Afribusiness said would have caused irreparable damage to the economy.
According to Numsa’s acting national spokesperson, details of the new wage agreement will be released to the public soon.
